Still Here

I see I've been neglecting this blog.  I've been trying to get caught up on the mowing and working on a physical rehab program and I've been neglecting the garden lately.  That's never a good idea, I depend on the veggies to keep my nutrition up.  In my defense, I did cut back the rainy-season overgrowth of invasive grasses in the South Garden and did some work with seedlings.  And of course I always keep my compost going no matter what...I have a couple of piles that are ready to incorporate into either potting or bedding soil.

Today I cleaned out three empty 34 cm nursery pots really well, but I didn't fill them yet with potting soil...that can wait for tomorrow.  I laid in fresh pine twigs and new landscaping cloth in the bottom of each one, being careful not to upset a Cuban tree frog who was dozing in the cart.  Those things are so tame that you can work around them and they don't seem to mind at all.  They're pretty groggy in the daytime I suspect.

I used to have one that lived in my watering can.  He used to sit on the lip of the can while I was hydrating my containers and show great interest in all the greenery passing by.  Finally one day he hopped off into some container plants, I guess he saw a bug or something...or a better place to sleep.  I have a lot of frogs and lizards here...and snakes as well.

I'm looking forward to better mustard greens when I plant those 34 cm pots with them.  The greens I'm harvesting now are getting too far along for salads and I just use a little in soup.  If you pick the leaves in the evening while they're high in sugar, the stems near the base are juicy and tangy like fruit with a complex flavor.  It's a nice taste treat for me now and then.  The swamp rabbits are onto this trick, they like to nibble on the stalks of sedges in the evening when they're sweet...specifically yellow nut sedge, which has edible "nuts" on the root system.  It's a common weed in lawns here, and I have lots of it.  Most people think it's grass, which it's not.

I read some things recently about veganism...the myths about it abound.  But the "bottom line" is that vegans are healthier and have fewer digestive issues than meat addicts.  The meat people warn us about protein deficiency and B12 deficiency, but it's just garbage not supported by science.  There are whole areas of India that are entirely vegetarian and they're not in dire straits healthwise compared to other areas in the subcontinent.  Of course you can find malnutrition throughout India, but that results from class barriers and from poverty, not vegetarianism.  I'm sure there are lots of malnourished people throughout the United States as well...for all sorts of reasons.  Vegetarianism is not one of them, I'm sure.  If a vegetarian eats a very restricted diet, they will get sick, but so will a meat eater.  I really don't like food fads and crazy diets.

Time for the news, I'll write more when I get some hoes and shovels going out there.  I have several of each ready to go, they just need my hands to move them around.